


The Adults are Talking

by Monoza



Category: Malcolm in the Middle
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Burn, adoption au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:21:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28013085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monoza/pseuds/Monoza
Summary: Malcolm is their new adopted brother. Reese and Dewey are used to people coming and going, but when Reese takes a liking to Malcolm will he work to keep him around or mess it all up?
Relationships: Malcolm/Reese (Malcolm in the Middle)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 37





	The Adults are Talking

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that everyone enjoys reading this, I know there’s the old saying “Dont like don’t read” and while it does hold true here, I am open to constructive criticism. Anyway I don’t own MitM or the characters blah blah blah.

“Reese! Dewey! Get your butts up already, Breakfast!”   
  
Reese groaned as he pulled himself out of bed, rubbing the palm of his hand against his eyes. He stole a quick glance at the clock on his way to the bathroom and let out an even longer huff when he saw the time. 9 AM. Usually he and his brother would be booking it to be the first one to the bathroom in the morning. But, today was Saturday, and Dewey always slept in on Saturdays.    
  
When he finished his morning routine(teeth, toilet, hair) he cut back through his bedroom -where Dewey was beginning to wake up- and out to the kitchen. Lois and Hal were both seated at the table, already half way through their Pancakes and eggs. Reese sat in his usual spot near the fridge, and served a portion for himself.    
  
Dewey joined not long after, complaining that Reese never left him any food. Reese just scoffed. They did this routine every day anyway, Dewey just needed to be faster. His parents were eyeing each other between bites, clearly not paying attention to them. This wasn’t out of the ordinary, and though he already knew what they were going to bring up (Mrs. Thompson's cat was asking for it), he stayed quiet. Lois usually bit immediately, never waiting for Hal to be on the exact page before she started her discipline; so Reese knew he probably shouldn’t speak first.    
  
“Alright boys, we need to talk.”   
  
“Mom listen I-” Reese said, mixing with Dewey’s high pitched whine. Both were cut off by Hal banging his silverware on the table.    
  
“Boys, just listen to your mother.” He said, trying to look anywhere else at the moment as he braced for a potential argument.    
  
“Malcolm is coming today and we’re  **all** going to pick him up at the airport.” Lois stated in her no-nonsense tone that Resse knew too well. “That means no fighting - punching, kicking, pinching, yelling, I don’t care- None. I want you dressed nicely, no dirty shirts-”   
  
“We know mom.” Reese scoffed, rolling his eyes just for emphasis though he was much more relaxed now that he knew he wasn’t in trouble. “God, we’re not idiots.”   
  
“If you knew I wouldn’t have to remind you.” Lois snapped back ignoring his second comment. “Look, I know it feels like a hassle. I know you two never like any of the kids that come through. And I know it feels hard enough with just the four of us. But Malcolm is a  _ nice  _ boy. He’s smart, polite, and clean god damn it.”    
  
“I just don’t get why I have to go pick him up with you guys if you’re coming right back here anyway.” Reese said. “It feels like a hassle because it  _ is  _ one.”   
  
“Fine. If you want to stay home then you’re welcome to clean the house while we’re away.” Lois warned. “I’m talking spotless.”   
  
“Alright, I’ll go.” Reese gave up the argument before it could start. That didn’t stop his mother from starting another tangent.   
  
Reese tuned out, he had heard this speech a million times before and it always ended the same way. Be nice to the poor little babies, they don’t have anything, blah blah blah. It wasn’t like coming here was that much better than nothing. Sure they had more room since Francis moved out a few years back; but that didn’t mean there was enough money for another kid. Dewey’s complaints in the background brought another problem to mind: Whenever a new kid came through he and Dewey had to go back to sharing a bed. Perfect.    
  
“Mom, pleaaaase.” Dewey whined, giving a small bounce in his chair. Though he was Twelve now he still played the youngest card occasionally. “Why do we have to go? I wanna hang out with Chad today. His mom said she would take us to the movies tonight. And I always go-”    
  
“There’s no debating this, his flight gets in in Two hours and you will  **both** be there looking presentable.” Hal said, now stern. “I don’t want to hear anymore butts about it.”   
  
Reese and Dewey sighed together, when their father put his foot down they knew it was best to just go with it.    
  
“I have a really good feeling about it this time, boys. I know you boys didn’t get to meet him, but Malcolm really is a nice boy.” Hal spoke in a softer tone. “He.. already feels like part of the family to your mother and I. Just give him a chance. If things don’t work out, well, then, they didn’t work. No harm.” 

There weren’t any more complaints for the rest of breakfast, but that didn’t stop the occasional obnoxious clank of a fork against his plate from Reese. He didn’t actually hate the idea of having another person his age in the house. It got boring without friends in the neighborhood, and from what he knew of Malcolm there wasn’t any real reason to dislike the kid. He knew he was seventeen, so a year younger than Reese himself, which was nice since most of the kids were closer to Dewey’s age than his own. He knew Malcolm was smart too, enough to impress his idiot parents. At eighteen, Reese knew when he should keep his bolder opinions to himself though.    
  
Reese left the table when he and Dewey were dismissed. Deciding to forgo the shower and just get dressed. He had showered the day before anyway. Dewey brushed passed him to get to the bathroom first, never wasting the chance. When he was in his room Reese swapped his sleep shirt for a plain black long sleeve, and his shorts for a pair of jeans. They didn’t have any holes that he could see from first glance, so they passed his test. There wasn’t anything interesting to do in his room after getting changed, the most that he had was an outdated laptop that was more dictionary than computer. He was pretty sure that it could run solitaire too, but he didn’t know the rules, so he didn’t play. 

The living room was the ideal place to be in the middle of the day with nothing to do and nowhere to go for another hour and a half. Being the only room with a TV, the family found themselves in the room on most nights; which meant that the couch was also more than comfortable. It was covered with well used throw pillows and forgotten blankets. Reese turned the TV on before he tossed himself on the couch. He stretched out and got relaxed. Before he knew it, Lois and Hal were in the sitting room calling their names.    
  
“Reese! It’s time to go!” Lois called a second time. “Oh my god! Dewey, what did you do to your shirt!”   
  
Reese pulled himself from the couch and switched off the TV. He hadn’t really been watching, so he didn’t care much about leaving his episode halfway through. His mother was still yelling at Dewey on her way out. Reese knew that Dewey had more control of his emotions as he got older, but he seemed to quickly come to his limit with his mothers nagging. She was just panicking about looking like the perfect family in front of the new kid like usual.    
  
“If it’s so important why didn’t Francis have to come!” Dewey argued, one Reese had tried many times before. “He’ll be Francis’ brother too!”    
  
“Because he’s a working adult now.” Lois snapped, loading their things into the car. “He can’t come down-”    
  
“What, every two weeks to meet the new kid?” Reese couldn’t help but scoff as he got into the car. Dewey followed behind him.

“Alright.” Lois stopped in front of Dewey’s still open door and leaned in to look at them. “I don’t want to hear another peep about this. You’re in the car, you’re going. You’re going to be nice. If you can’t be nice then be  **quiet** . Understood?”   
  
Reese didn’t have any other plans for the day, so he just nodded. He saw Dewey nod in front of him before their mother shut the door. The drive to the airport took about thirty minutes. Reese spent most of it watching the scenery go by and listening to the radio. Occasionally he would do something to annoy Dewey, a flick behind the ear, kicking at his feet. Lois only snapped back when Dewey complained loud enough. Hal, who was in the driver's seat, only spoke up as they began to enter the arriving flights zone. Lois was digging through papers in her lap, looking up the information from the new kids boarding pass most likely.    
  
They found parking in a nearby lane, between the Southwest and Delta gates. Lois was the first one out of the car, and she quickly opened Dewey’s door, ushering him out. Hal waited in the car for a moment with Reese.    
  
“Everything alright son?” Hal asked, glancing back at him.    
  
“Yeah dad. Things are great.” Reese scoffed, not hiding his sarcasm. “Can’t wait to have another annoying little brother we can’t afford.”   
  
“Perfect.” Hal jumped at the opportunity to avoid a long talk. “Good. Let’s catch up with your mother then.”   
  
Reese rolled his eyes again and got out of the car. He knew his dad was just as worried about them not liking Malcolm as his mom was; so he didn’t hold it against his dad to avoid a fight with him right now. Reese took a moment to hike up his pants and flatten out the wrinkles in his shirt before his mom could nag him about it before he caught up with the three of them. His parents stood together with Dewey between them, still small enough to fit in the space without looking odd. Which left him to stand just slightly behind his fathers side.    
  
It was obvious when Malcolm's flight landed, the somewhat busy building in front of them became almost packed. What looked like 100 - but could really only be about 40 - people filled the baggage claim area. Reese couldn’t stop the small spark of curiosity that ran through him as his eyes darted around the crowd. Some part of him maybe wanting to be the first one to spot him even though he’d never met the boy before. He knew he was Seventeen, so excluding the people with parents, friends, or girls there left four or five guys that Reese might be Malcolm. None of them were standing out to him though, and his parents weren’t making any moves towards anyone in particular. When Reese looked up at them he saw they were still scanning over the crowd. 

He knew, a minute later. It was obvious in his mothers sudden smile. His attention turned right back to the somewhat dispersed crowd and saw another boy around his age that he hadn’t noticed before. The kid was still far away, so he couldn’t be sure, but Reese thought he might be taller than the other boy. When the kid looked up and saw them Reese knew it was Malcolm by his mirrored smile. Malcolm seemed somewhat hesitant as he approached them, and Reese noticed the light baggage. One suitcase rolling behind him, and a backpack on.    
  
As he got closer Reese could make his features out more clearly. His hair was longer than Reese’s, and a light brown color that no one in their family had. As their eyes met - just for a moment - He saw that Malcolm's were blue, a clear blue he’d noticed before in girls but never this vividly in a boy. Reese shook his head quickly, immediately turning his attention to Malcolm’s hair again to avoid any more unwanted thoughts.    
  
“Malcolm!” Lois started when he approached, automatically embracing him. “I’m so happy to see you again!”   
  
“Nice to see you, sport.” Hal said, giving him a quick pat on the shoulder as he hovered a little closer. “How was your flight?”   
  
“It’s nice to see you both again too.” Malcolm’s voice was soft, at least to Reese. “The flight was nice, I slept through most of it.”   
  
“Great! You’ll be wide awake for lunch later. I hope you’re hungry?” Lois said, breaking the hug.    
  
“Um, yeah, totally. Peanuts aren’t too filling.” Malcolm nodded, Reese caught his glance again. This time he held it, long enough for Hal to speak up.    
  
“Reese, why don’t you help Malcolm get his bags into the trunk?”   
  
“Yeah, whatever.” Reese said lamely, a small nudge from Hal had him stepping forward.   
  
It was a bit awkward, meeting the new kid for the first time at the Airport of all places; but Reese didn’t complain as he took Malcolm’s suitcase. He rolled it towards their trunk, finding it surprisingly light as he opened the trunk and lifted it in. Malcolm was only a few paces behind him, his backpack now held awkwardly in his arms. A quick glance around told Reese the family had already hopped back into the car and was waiting for them.    
  
“Hey.” Malcolm said, loading his backpack in.    
  
“Hey.” Reese mirrored him lamely, and kept his eyes pointedly away from Malcolm's.   
  
“So, um, Reese, yeah? It’s nice to finally meet you.” Malcolm said.    
  
“You say that now; give it a week.” Reese turned a smirk his way and shut the trunk. “Just stay out of my way dude.”    
  
Reese brushed past Malcolm's shoulder on his way back to his car door. He always made sure to give the new kids a small taste in the beginning; so they knew what they were getting themselves into if they decided to take Reese on as a brother. Dewey’s complaining was normal little brother behavior after all, so it was up to Reese to chase the kids out of their home.    
  
His parent’s just didn’t understand what they were doing, bringing a new punching bag into the neighborhood was asking for it. The guys in his class were always looking for new meat, and though they didn’t often mess with him - his weight training classes had paid off last summer; not to mention the fact he was usually just bigger than the other guys - that didn’t mean they wouldn’t mess with the foster kids that rotated through their house. Malcolm would more than likely get it worse than the last few boys that had past through.

Once the three of them were settled in the back seat - Malcolm elbowed into the middle when Dewey squeezed in beside him - the car pulled away from the airport. Reese took a few minutes to examine Malcolm for the first time while his parents talked the kids ears off. Now that they were sat beside each other, almost eye level from the boost the middle seat gave him, Reese knew he had a few inches on the other boy. Malcolm was smaller in almost every noticeable way, his arms, hands, shoulders… thighs. Reese snapped his eyes back up. What was up with his mind today? 

Keeping his mind on track this time Reese angled his head back towards Malcolm. This time he started at the bottom, dirty old sneakers and black jeans that were just a bit too short for Malcolm’s legs. As he took his gaze further up he noticed Malcolm’s hands digging into the very bottom of the white hoodie he was wearing. An oversized pull over that must have belonged to a bigger guy before him. His thin wrists showed the cuffs of a brown undershirt and as Reese looked higher he could see the turtle neck poking out from his hood.

His hair was actually cropped closer to the base of his neck than Reese had initially thought. It was almost cute, the slight curl to the ends of Malcolm's hair. The way it framed his face made him look softer than most boys their age. Reese looked away again after that thought, trying to focus his attention out the window again. He couldn't keep thinking that Malcolm looked cute. If there was one thing he knew about himself it was that he definitely wasn’t into guys. So instead he let his mind wander to the school's cheerleaders, their last practice before winter break had been the day before on Friday. Thanks to winter break he had two weeks before he got to see Bella Summers do the splits again.   
  
The sudden lack of pressure against his left arm about a half hour later drew Reese’s attention from his fantasies. Glancing over, he noticed that Dewey was already out of the car, Malcolm not far behind him. He got out from his own side of the car, already walking to the trunk. He knew his father well enough that arguing about helping Malcolm with his bags would be useless.    
  
“Thanks.” Malcolm said.    
  
“I’m doing it so my dad doesn’t have to, not for you.” Reese said as he lifted Malcolm’s backpack from the trunk and shoved it into his arms.    
  
“How charming.” Malcolm deadpanned, shrugging his bag onto his thin shoulders. Reese almost reached out to take it back, a sudden worry in the back of his mind.   
  
Reese grabbed the suitcase from the trunk before he brushed past Malcolm before he could think about that again. The less time he had to spend with him right now the better. He didn’t know where those weird thoughts earlier had come from, but with Malcolm as the obvious catalyst it was best to ignore him. Yeah, that was all he had to do. Malcolm was just another kid who’d be gone in a few months. As Reese crossed the threshold he resolved himself to ignore Malcolm as much as possible.

**Author's Note:**

> Going to try to update once a week. This will probably be about 5/6 parts hopefully all a little longer than this! I've got a second AU on the back burner right now while I work on this, so hopefully I'll have more stories than this one to post soon too!^^


End file.
